African American Seniors Abused, Swindled More Often, Study Finds

Senior citizens who are black are more likely to be the victims of psychological and financial abuse as elders of other races.

According to a new survey, published in The Gerontologist African American elders could be up to five times more susceptible to being cheated financially. The survey is among only a few that focus on race as a specific factor in elder mistreatment, says Scott Beach, assistant director of Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) at the University of Pittsburgh.

The population-based survey collected information directly from senior citizens through face-to-face and telephone interviews — the most effective way to document unreported abuse, he says. Typically, elder mistreatment data is gathered from complaints filed with Adult Protective Services.

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The National Research Council (NRC), in its 2003 report, Elder Mistreatment, described existing elder abuse research as having “a number of weaknesses,” including a lack of clear, consistent definitions and an absence of population-based data.